ARTICLES ABOUT VIDEO GAMES BY DATE - PAGE 2

There's a new bad guy in the universe and it's up to kids to defeat him. His name is Master Sweet Treat - the czar of extra calories. Forget whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Master Sweet Treat has declared war on good nutrition and has taken over the five food-group worlds. Now, it's the job of brave elementary school students to save each world and defeat the czar of extra calories. All it takes is a complete and balanced diet. With childhood obesity rates tripling in the last 15 years, a team of college students is doing something about it. They've designed a computer game.

At the end of the school year, I started designating one screen-free day a week. It's the second year my husband, son and I have embarked on this techno-detoxing journey. On one level, I struggle to accept the role that computers, Wiis and other gadgets play in our education and recreation. On another level, I appreciate how quickly we can get in touch with friends, loved ones and current events thanks to the Web and Facebook. My overactive brain couldn't remember how easy or hard these screen-free days were last summer, so this year, I kept a journal for the first four weeks of our experiment.

The Hagerstown Police Department searched Monday night and Tuesday morning for a 9-year-old boy authorities later discovered had been at a friend's house playing video games. Nylik Savlis Cummins of West Church Street in Hagerstown was returned safely to his mother Tuesday morning. "I was at my friend's house playing video games," Nylik said Tuesday at his house. "It was too dark to go home" Monday night. Nylik's mother, Shanikka Freeman, said the youngster didn't return home after he went outside to play at about noon on Monday.

NOV. 24, 1973-MAY 25, 2011 Jason Ryan Presgraves, 37, of 1124 W. Irvin Ave., Hagerstown, Md., died May 25, 2011, at his home. Born Nov. 24, 1973, in Hagerstown, he was the son of William Presgraves Jr. of Keedysville, Md., and Vicki Horine Petricig of Hagerstown. He graduated from Williamsport High School and Evangel College in Missouri. He was employed by Word Processing Service as a technician for eight years. He loved movies, playing video games, his family and his pets.

When Audra Haddock Martenot closes her eyes and thinks of her most cherished childhood memories, they usually involve nature. After all, her playground was the great outdoors. Martenot's parents owned a place at a fish and game club, she said, and every summer day was spent on the Potomac River and C&O Canal. Here, she spent hours exploring her surroundings — getting her hands dirty, splashing in the water and watching wildlife. There were no computers, no iPods or video games, just an opportunity to enjoy activities that didn't require an electrical outlet.

When Jared Swope learned he was going to be in the sixth-grade section of the Washington County Spelling Bee, he practiced nightly with his father and stepmother. His father, Kevin Swope, would take on a German accent when testing Jared, 11, on words of German origin. "The word we practiced the most was 'pickelhaube,'" Jared said. As it turned out, pickelhaube, which is a spiked helmet formerly worn by German soldiers, was the winning word for the Smithsburg Middle School honor roll student at the March 13 spelling bee. As surprising as that coincidence might be, it also might surprise people to know Jared has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.

INWOOD, W.Va. --Â What better way to get to know people then to spend all dayÂ with them? That's what Air Force Reserve Office Training Corps (AFJROTC) cadets at Mussleman High School had a chance to do the night of Sept. 25. The AFJROTC is made up of students, grades nine to 12. The Berkeley County Unit is WV-071.Â Beginning at 5 p.m. cadets were "locked in" at the school where the played video games, ate pizza, played sports, marched --Â and got to know each other.

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- Looking for an ice machine that can hold 600 pounds? Or 150 stackable chairs? How about a two-lane duckpin bowling alley? The auction scheduled for Monday, Oct. 12, at the Waynesboro Elks Club presents a diverse lot. The club's kitchen and restaurant equipment is scheduled to be sold, along with items from the ballroom and former basement game room. The club at 66 W. Main St. closed in mid-August, but BPO Elks Lodge 731 kept its charter. New Exalted Ruler David McJonathan said the lodge could open a new, smaller club by December.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Benjamin Best doesn't remember anything that happened to him after about 6 p.m. on Feb. 13. He later learned he collapsed while playing video games with his 11-year-old stepdaughter, Victoria Moore, in his North Martinsburg home just before midnight, he said Wednesday, a day after returning home from the hospital. What happened next still amazes Best, 33, who still was awaiting results from tests to find out why he collapsed. He was told "Tori" called Berkeley County 911, then gave him CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

Brad Smith, 16, is a junior at Boonsboro High School. The best video games, he thinks, can reincarnate and get better, but the updated version of "Grand Theft Auto" will be just OK. Ryan Barry, 13, lives in Boonsboro and is a ninth-grade home-schooler. He enjoys watching movies on the big screen.